When our son was the operations manager at a very large minesite in PNG, he could be called out at anytime of the day or night if a production problem occurred and the company had a zero alcohol limit onsite for both driving and working so he needed to be sure he was on zero before leaving their residence.
When his previous breathalyser needed calibration a few years ago, he elected to simply buy a new one instead of trying to get it calibrated in Australia and returned to PNG, so he bought a Response fuel-cell unit from Jaycar in Cairns and very kindly also bought one for me.
I always take it if we go out to dinner, a function, a get together or the like, even though I never have more than 3 Coronas over a few hours, so as to be better safe than sorry.
It works great with the results mirroring what I would expect from manually calculating the expected BAC result, with readings of around 0.05% shortly after drinking decreasing to 0.00% after a couple of hours.
In the aftermath of the Sydney tragedy in which four children were killed and three injured by an alleged drunk driver, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is calling for 0.02% or zero BAC limits.
Whilst not wanting to detract anything away from the tragedy, I find the RACS idea to be ridiculous and I do not believe such a change would make the slighest difference.
And as for learner and provisional drivers being required to have 0% BAC, even that seems to be having little effect.
Whilst searching for an item which was on the “local TV news” yesterday regarding a learner driver crashing in Townsville, I found this earlier one.
So with the existing 0% BAC “working so well” with learner and provisional drivers, does the RACS really think changing the limit for open licence drivers will actually make any difference?
Perhaps they should just stick with their day job of gouging their patients.
I have not heard what BAC level the driver in question had. Maybe it is premature to make kneejerk reactions before coroner’s report has been prepared. However…
If the driver was below existing limits and was severely affected even at low level, then there could be an argument for lower BACs.
If the driver had BACs above existing limits, would a lower mandated BAC prevented the driver from driving the vehicle…hard question to answeR. However, if it was a very high recorded level, then if the existing BAC didn’t stop the driving, maybe lower BAC limits wouldn’t either.
CHOICE has reviewed personal breathalysers in the past - the last one was about 10 years ago. The test were based on user trials with staff members drinking alcohol, and using the devices, with either blood samples or a calibrated reference breathalyser used to measure their true blood alcohol level. I remember those tests well. I was an organiser rather than a trialist! There are laboratory-based tests that can be done, but we felt that testing the devices with real people was more useful.
Why haven’t we done any reviews since then? Well, there are Work Health and Safety aspects to such tests - you really have to get people over the limit to see how the devices perform. There were some, let’s say, Interesting Times with the last trial that left CHOICE wary of doing any more reviews. (No harm done, but it highlighted the risks involved.)
My advice is that if you want to get a personal breathalyser, get one that is certified to the Australian Standard AS3547 (most are these days) and keep it calibrated as per manufacturer instructions.
An option for Choice is to do a survey of patrons at a local pub in the early evening. Choice would get a range of BACs without having to provide the lubricating juices.
A “pub test” is certainly an option, but would be more suited to an informal trial and I’m not convinced that would be the way to go here. With a test like this, you really want control over the number and mix of trialists (ages, genders etc) - as well as the space being used. You want a statistically valid number of samples and you can’t guarantee you’d get it at the pub - people can refuse to take part, you might not get many women, the age mix might be skewed, etc.
Simply, the testing needs to be rigorous and defensible. It’s one thing to run a food taste test in a shopping mall, as we have done, and say “X number of people preferred Brand Y of peanut butter”, but quite another to say “our tests in a pub show that this allegedly standards-certified breathalyser doesn’t perform correctly”. I remember trading several legal letters with breathalyser manufacturers in past projects and that takes up a lot of time - without a solid test method, we can get into hot water pretty quickly.
I question the usefulness of having your own breathalyser. Aside from the matter of is it accurate at any given time how can you be sure if your level looks OK when you get in the car it will still be acceptable for the duration of the trip? If you are serious about road safety isn’t it better to just not drink at all if you are driving? Taking the legalistic approach that you are alright if under the limit looks risky to me and using your own machine looks riskier not safer.
Choice doing blood tests has problems. The range of breath readings in comparison with blood readings and other categories of variables suggest a fairly large sample will be required. BAC readings can change fairly quickly over time especially if booze is ingested on an empty stomach, so getting subjects to test several machines to compare results has problems.
It sounds expensive and a potential minefield to me. I begin to think money might be better spent on something else.
I do as well…except possible the ignition lock ones forced on those who have been caught in the past.
My view is if one thinks they need to check their BAC levels before driving, they possibly should not be driving if they are concerned about the amount of alcohol they have consumed.
I can however see the use of a breathalyser in places of employment or where one has woken up after a big night out to see if all the alcohol has been digested…but using it when leaving the pub is fraught with risks as you have outlined.
I have a relatively high end model. After dinner with any drinks, be it one or a few I always test myself and if it reads over .04 I wait until it is going down, and sometimes I will be under that but still do not feel on top of the driving game and likewise wait until I feel my best as well as ‘way down’ the BAC. The BAC can be going up for longer than most people think after drinking so if my BAC is above .035 after 20 minutes I’ll still take readings every 5 minutes to assure it has not kept going up.
I get it calibrated twice a year and the most it has been off in the report is .001 against the reference.
Anyone who blindly uses an ordinary quality or cheap breathalyser and reckons good to go at .049 (most are only claimed accurate to +/- .005 at the best of times) almost deserves to meet up with a booze bus to check its accuracy
One can question, and others can embrace. They can be one of multiple self-checks. It is somewhat like watching the speedo; would you drive without one?
P.S.
For the number of times each year we might find a tester useful, it is just as cost effective to get a taxi, Uber or bus home. Zero stress and no need to learn to count to 3.
Which is perhaps where some other party goers and drinks after work patrons fail? Can’t count to 3. Little chance then of the skill set that includes self testing being acquired.
A good Point, although “fitness for work” is about much more than zero blood alcohol levels. Lack of sleep, long term fatigue, mental health, time of night or day, prescribed and recreational drugs, all factor into whether a lesson should respond at all.
Fortunately for most key staff many employers are happy to remain on the broader concerns. It may be to the short term benefit of the employer and job retention goals of the staff person. Longer term both employer and employee are at risk. One usually comes off second best.
Deciding to drive or to respond to a work call out after hours have similar risks and considerations. A decision to ignore self assessment is one possible failure in either example. Blowing into the machine and venturing forth after a zero reading does not excuse any other overlooked adverse conditions. Many of these affect adversely our ability to make sound decisions.
My view is that surgeons should stick to surgery and any ‘calling’ they do should be for better facilities, training, etc - not getting involved in road safety or anything else they feel delivers them ‘customers’.
As for limits, 0.05 is fairly commonly the limit, some countries a little higher, some lower - I’m not convinced it has been shown that this amount of alcohol impairs driving in a practical sense. zero to me seems absurd for any driver as it makes it very difficult in situations where food contains small amounts or next day situations - especially odd when, I believe, the limit for a pilot is 0.02.
Which on did you go for? and what are the approximate recal costs?
So breathalysers will be waiting on your way to the office next morning? Alcohol does take some time to eliminate from the body and the bloodstream; you may be under 0.05% when tested on the way home, but are you 0% the following morning?
I have an Alcosense Stealth. The maintenance is $85 p.a. including 2-way shipping per calibration, 2 per annum with a perpetual warranty on the device so long as it is continued.
Some 50 years ago, vehicles had built-in mechanical interlocks to help prevent drink driving.
The first one was a slot in the driver’s door and the second one was a slot near the steering wheel, into which a small metal object had to be successfully inserted and turned.
If one could not achieve both of these, then they were obviously in no condition to drive.
In Northern and Western Qld most likely the windows were left down to keep the car cooler, and the keys left in the slot so that you did not loose them?
P.S. with no RBT and no handheld testing equipment, assuming you got home without writing the vehicle off on the road side, all was good. Not so good for the obvious reason.
My wife and I visited the famous bakery in Babinda yesterday to sample their wares, and whilst sitting at a table outside the shop, I saw something I had not seen in decades.
The sole occupant of a 4WD vehicle pulled up and went inside to buy some bread whilst leaving the engine running.
The vehicle was actually still there when he returned.
